Container closure structure



June 1954- I J. E. CAHILL 79,945

CONTAINER CLOSURE STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 11, 1952 Joseph E Cab/ll 4INVENTOR.

- -B and. u I A ME EM Patented June l, 1954 gamers UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CONTAINER CLOSURE STRUCTURE Joseph E. Cahill, Worcester, Mass.

Application August 11, 1952, Serial No. 303,647

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to receptacles, and more specificallyto a receptacle for receiving used tissues for the sanitary disposal ofthe same.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improvedreceptacle adapted to be mounted on hospital beds and the like forreceiving used tissues in order to effect the sanitary disposal of thesame.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved receptaclefor receiving used tissues, said receptacle being provided with improvedmounting means whereby the same may be quickly and easily mounted onand. removed from a bed rail.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved sanitary usedtissue receptacle which includes a removable cover having a tissuepassage therethrough, said cover being provided with a closure elementnormally closing said tissue passage in order that the used tissue maybe retained in a sealed receptacle.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved cover forcontainers, said cover being provided with an opening therethrough andhaving a closure element normally closing said opening, said closureelement being automatically urged toward a closed position and being somounted with respect to the remainder of the cover that the outersurfaces of the same are in a common plane.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elementsand portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in thespecification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part ofthis application, in which:

Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of the sanitary used tissuereceptacle and shows the general outline of the same;

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional View taken throughthe center of the receptacle of Figure 1 and shows the generalconstruction thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the cover for the receptacleof Figure 1 and shows the relationship of a closure element carried bythe same with respect to a surrounding portion of the cover; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional viewtaken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 44 ofFigure 1 and shows the manner in which the closure element is pivotallyconnected to a wall of the cover.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the differentviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that thesanitary used tissue receptacle, which is the subject of this invention,includes a generally rectangular container which is referred to ingeneral by the reference numeral I ll. The container l6 includes abottom wall i2 which has integral therewith and extending upwardly fromthe front and rear edges thereof front and rear walls l4 and I6,respectively; Integral with and extending upwardly from the side edgesof the bottom wall I 2 are side walls [8, the side walls H3 beingdisposed between the front and rear walls M and H5 and connected to thesame. The upper end of the container H3 is opened and closed by aportion of a removable closure which is referred to in general by thereference numeral 20.

The cover 20 includes a top wall 22 which has integral therewith andextending downwardly therefrom at the front and rear edges thereof frontand rear flanges 2d and 26, respectively, which overlie the front andrear walls [4 and I6, respectively, of the container Ill. The top wall22 has integral with the side edges thereof downwardly depending sideflanges 28 which overlie the upper ends of the side walls [3.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 4 in particular, it will be seen that thetop wall 22 is of a double thickness and includes an upper or outerplate portion 30 and an inner or lower plate portion 32, the plateportions 30 and 32 being in face to face engagement. It will be notedthat the flanges 2d, 26 and 28 are of the same thickness as the upperplate 30 and are integral with only that portion of the top wall 22. Thetop wall 22 is provided with a substantially circular opening 34 whichmay be utilized for the passage of used tissues. The opening 3d isnormally closed by a substantially circular closure element which isreferred to in general by the reference numeral 36.

The closure element 35 is also of a double thickness construction andincludes an upper plate 38 and a lower plate ill, the two plates beingin face to face engagement. The combined thickness of the plates 38 andMl is equal to the thickness of the upper plate SE! of the top wall 22and when the closure element 36 is in a closed position lies in a commonplane therewith.

limited by engagement of the closure element with the seat s2 and theclosure element Eli is retained in a coplanar relation with respect tothe plate 3% by the weight Ml. The inwardly projecting portion of theplate 32 has free ends 45 which form stop means for preventing themovement of the closure element 36 past a vertical position.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 4 in particular, it will be seen that theplate 3% is separated from the plate 32 between the opening 34 and theside flanges 28 and that portions of the plate 30 are raised to formelongated aligned sleeve portions 48. The closure element 36 also hasits upper plate 38 separated from the lower plate QB in a similar mannerto form elongated aligned sleeve portions 5E. The sleeve portions 5d ofthe closure element 36 are aligned with the sleeve portions 48 of thetop wall 22 and the closure element 36 is pivotally mounted with respectto the top wall 22 by aligned pivot pins 52 which have end portionspositioned in the aligned sleeve portions 48 and 58.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 in particular, it will be seen that thecontainer it is provided with a mounting bracket, which is referred toin general by the reference numeral E4, for securing the same to a bedrail. The mounting bracket 50 includes an elongated vertical portion 55which has integral with the lower end thereof an outwardly extendingflange 58 which is connected to an inwardly extending flange 60 by acurved portion 62. The flanges 58 and 68 are in spaced parallel relationand together with the curved portion 62 form a hook at the lower end ofthe vertical portion 56.

The vertical portion 56 has an upper part thereof provided with anelongated slot 5d which opens through the upper end of the verticalportion 56. The slot 54 is adapted to have adjustably positioned thereina threaded stud 66 carried by the rear Wall l6 of the container 18 andis retained in adjusted relation with respect to the same by a wing nut58. It will be noted that the threaded stud GE is provided with a washerwhich spaces the vertical portion 56 and the mounting bracket 54 fromthe side wall it.

Referring now to Figure 2 in particular, it will be seen that the hookportion of the mounting bracket 54 is attached to an angular bed railwhich includes a horizontal flange i2 and a vertical flange i i. Thehook portion of the mounting bracket 54 is mounted on the bed rail withits flange 58 overlying the upper surface of the horizontal flange l2and its flange to underlying the same.

It will be noted that the container it is provided with a removablecontainer T6 for receiving used tissues. The removable container '58 maybe in the form of a paper bag or some other suitable type of relativelyinexpensive and easily disposable container.

It will be seen that when the sanitary used tissue receptacle, which isthe subject of this invention, is attached to a bed adjacent the mattress thereof, a person lying 1n the bed may easily dispose of usedtissues by depositing the same through the opening 34 into the removablecontainer 76. After each used tissue is deposited within the removablecontainer 76,. the closure element 36 will immediately move to a closedposition whereby the receptacle will be closed and be sanitary. Afterthe removable container it has been filled with used tissues, it may beremoved directly from the container 59 and replaced by a new containeror the container it and its associated cover 2t may be removed from themounting bracket E i and replaced by another unit. In either case thesoiled tissues remain onclosed within either the container it or theentire receptacle until disposed of and a sanitary condition exists.

While the sanitary used tissues receptacle may be formed of any suitablematerials, it is preferred that it be formed of either aluminum orstainless steel so that it is not subject to corrosive action and mayalso be easily cleaned.

The construction of the mounting bracket 54 is such that it may bereversed to securely engage bed rails on opposite sides of a bed. Also,the engagement of the mounting bracket with a bed rail is such that anassociated section of the bed may be tilted to any desired angle withthe container Iii remaining in a vertical position through the use ofthe fastening means which secures the container to the mounting bracket.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoingdescription of the details thereof, taken in connection with the aboverecited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to beunnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from theembodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resortedto without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A cover for a container comprising a wall and depending flanges, saidwall having an opening therethrough, a closure element pivotally carriedby said wall flush with an outer surface thereof, said closure elementnormally closing said opening, said wall and said closure element bothbeing of double thickness and formed of inner and outer plates, alignedportions of said plates being separated to form spaced opposed alignedsockets in said wall and said closure element, pivot pins extendingbetween and having end portions received in said sockets to pivotallymount said closure element relative to said opening.

2. A closure for a container comprising a wall and depending flanges,said wall being formed of an outer plate and an inner plate, generallyaligned openings through said inner and outer plates, the opening insaid inner plate being of a different configuration than the opening insaid outer plate and a portion of said inner plate underlying a portionof the opening in said outer plate to form a seat, a closure elementnormally seated on said seat and closing the opening in said outerplate, said closure element being formed of inner and outer plateshaving combined thickness equal to the thickness of the outer plate ofsaid wall, said outer plate of said Wall and the plates of said closureelement being deformed to provide spaced opposed aligned sockets, pivotpins having ends positioned in said sockets pivotally connecting saidclosure element to said wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Taber Feb. 23, 1869 Grainger Dec. 25, 1883 Carlin May 23, 1916Brown Aug. 14, 1917 Watson July 23, 1918 De Long Oct. 4, 1921 NumberNumb er Name Date Sweet June 20, 1922 Punte Dec. 6, 1932 Sherman Jan.17, 1933 Jones May 11, 1937 Bisson Aug. 2, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS CountryDate Great Britain 1906 France Mar. 20, 1914 Switzerland Sept. 1, 1916

